Heaven Meets Olympus

[hailthorn011]

So me and Crystal were sitting around one night, and I posed the question, "what if God met Zeus?" And from there, we had an insanely fun time imagining all sorts of wacky scenes and events.

But today, we were thinking, why don't we turn this into a story? Except, I'm going to do it in episodic format. And it will be a comedy.

So, I suppose if you're a diehard believer in either the Olympic Gods or in Christianity, and you can't take a joke I would recommend avoiding this story.

I can give y'all a brief summary when we've written it down if you're interested.

[Kirby]

To be clear, you are writing the story and posting it here; You are not asking the forum to contribute to the story, right?

[hailthorn011]

To be clear, you are writing the story and posting it here; You are not asking the forum to contribute to the story, right?

I planned to do neither. I was just asking what y'all would think of a comical story about the two sides meeting. I know people can be pretty uptight when it comes to religion.

[Solomon]

Sounds more suitable in a blog rather than a forum thread. You'd also avoid having to worry about stepping over the religion line.

[hailthorn011]

Sounds more suitable in a blog rather than a forum thread. You'd also avoid having to worry about stepping over the religion line.

Okay, I won't say any more about it here, then.

[hailthorn011]

You'd also avoid having to worry about stepping over the religion line.

Will a ban from L19 really matter when hailthorn001 is bound for Hell in any event?

Wow, this hailthorn001 has a name a lot like mine!

[Joaz Banbeck]

Speaking as an amateur writer, I suppose the overriding issue will be the universality vs locality. I mean, what does a god who is master of Mt Olympus say to a young upstart who claims to be ruler of everything? It makes the conversation difficult.

The most interesting conversations are between equals. There is give and take; there is even conflict. Nothing is more gripping than a fight between husband and wife, or the words between two gunfighters who are both ready to draw. It is the uncertainty of result that grabs us.

The conversation between unequals is lopsided. It gets boring, and the more unequal they are, the sooner it does so. Who wants to hear a mother talk to a child? It holds no interest - unless the child talks back.

It doesn't need to be fighting. If she gasps "I love you", and he replies "Uhh, I've got some DVDs to return", you have the reader's interest. But if she says the same thing to a baby, its response is boring. There can only be drama in conversation betwwen equals.

So your first problem to solve will be how Zeus responds to this new breed of unversalist religion. It is unsettling, these Christians and Muhammadans and Hebrews. They think they own everything. In the good old days any self-respecting god stayed in one place. I have my mountaintop, you have yours; we can get along. And when we don't, the bards will write epics about it.

He's got to equalize, and fast, or you'll bore your audience.

[Koroviev]

There can only be drama in conversation betwwen equals.

You are welcome to your theory of course, but I'd strongly disagree with this. An imbalance of power between characters is often the driving force of dramatic tension between them, e.g. Iago and Othello, Macbeth and Duncan, Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, Winston and Big Brother, Luke and Darth Vader...

[hailthorn011]

There can only be drama in conversation betwwen equals.

You are welcome to your theory of course, but I'd strongly disagree with this. An imbalance of power between characters is often the driving force of dramatic tension between them, e.g. Iago and Othello, Macbeth and Duncan, Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, Winston and Big Brother, Luke and Darth Vader...

I actually happen to agree with this. And since our story is planned for solely comedic reasons, an imbalance in strength doesn't necessarily matter. Look at the strength disparity between the Olympic Gods and the Titans. Who won?

Or better yet, a key counterexample to Joaz's point is: David VS Goliath. People like underdog stories, regardless, so I'm not entirely sure I see the point.

And for comedy, this issue is largely irrelevant in my opinion.

[hailthorn011]

Wow, this hailthorn001 has a name a lot like mine!

Yes, my bad!
I obviously got you two mixed up when looking at my lists.

Nice try, though!

[Joaz Banbeck]

There can only be drama in conversation between equals.

You are welcome to your theory of course, but I'd strongly disagree with this. An imbalance of power between characters is often the driving force of dramatic tension between them, e.g. Iago and Othello, Macbeth and Duncan, Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, Winston and Big Brother, Luke and Darth Vader...

Ultimately, I think we agree.

...unless the child talks back....

In all the cases that your reference above, the lower ranked one is trying to assert equality.

[Joaz Banbeck]

...

There can only be drama in conversation betwwen equals.

Or better yet, a key counterexample to Joaz's point is: David VS Goliath. People like underdog stories, regardless, so I'm not entirely sure I see the point.

Actually, this kind of proves the point. TTBOMR, they didn't have much to say to each other.

"I'm gonna kill you",
"No, you're not" *THUNK*

Good drama maybe, but boring conversation.

[hailthorn011]

...

There can only be drama in conversation betwwen equals.

Or better yet, a key counterexample to Joaz's point is: David VS Goliath. People like underdog stories, regardless, so I'm not entirely sure I see the point.

Actually, this kind of proves the point. TTBOMR, they didn't have much to say to each other.

"I'm gonna kill you",
"No, you're not" *THUNK*

Good drama maybe, but boring conversation.

I still quite disagree. For a more recent reference, I always found the dialogue between Harry Potter and Severus Snape to be quite interesting. Obviously one had a greater power, that being Snape, but the intense dislike between the two always made the scenes involving the two quite interesting.

Or in the Percy Jackson series when Percy actually challenged Ares to a fight.

A story can be interesting in more ways than just terms of power. You just have to be able to do it right.